1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to anti-cancer drug and, more particularly, to synthetic dicinnamate compounds and their analogues that exhibit anti-tumor activity and/or an anti-inflammatory activity, that has beneficial activity principally in destroying cancer cells.
2. Description of the Background
There is great growth in the overlapping fields of biology, technology, and medicine, including remarkable advances in cellular biology that have given a new understanding of the molecular basis for some diseases. Nevertheless, the incidence of some forms of cancer continues to rise. This is particularly true of breast cancer, a leading cause of death in women. Considerable effort has focused on the early detection of cellular transformation and tumor formation in breast tissue.
The increased focus on cellular biology has led to a profusion of drugs to treat cancer patients. These drugs include alkylating agents, intercalating agents, antimetabolites, etc., most of which target DNA or enzymes regulating the DNA duplication and elongation process. However, rapidly growing tumors do not always exhibit high levels of cell proliferation, but may also exhibit low levels of cell death compared to the normal cell population from which these tumor cells issue, For these types of rapidly growing tumors, the mentioned drugs are not effective. In addition, the great majority of the drugs currently available for treatment of cancer are toxic and involve detrimental side-effects on healthy cells, tissues and organs.
The high-technology approach obfuscated many promising therapeutic drugs derived from natural origins. A successful anticancer drug should kill or incapacitate cancer cells without causing excessive damage to normal cells. This ideal situation is achievable by inducing apoptosis in cancer cells without undue side effects, and organic drugs are well-suited. Apoptosis is a programmed cell death initiated by the nucleus. Apoptosis is a mechanism of cell death that incurs little or no inflammatory response. Currently, radiation is effective in producing cell death by apoptosis but is dependent on dose rate as well as ionization density, and this subjects other non-tumor cells to radiation risks.
Natural products are the most consistently successful source of drug leads. However, natural products inherently depend on availability of scarce resources. Indeed, certain natural drugs are derived from rare and/or exotic plants and this can severely curtail the supply. It is very common, therefore, for scientists to attempt to isolate and synthesize the active component(s) of such rare natural drugs. For example, in his U.S. Pat. No. 7,713,556 issued May 11, 2010, the present inventor disclosed methods of treating cancer by administering a composition comprising and extract of Jamaican Ball Moss (Tillandsia recurvata) in a therapeutic compound. Jamaican Ball Moss is not found in abundance, and not at all outside Jamaica, and as described herein the present inventor has devoted significant subsequent effort to isolating the active compound and synthesizing it.